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March 24th 2018, Ben and myself went to visit the V&A to view the Winne The Pooh Exhibition.

It was a charming and wonderful exhibit, with original illustrations by Earnest Shepherd and the collaboration he had with A.A Milne in creating the loveable bear we know today.

Seeing all the illustrations and learning how E.S, drew from life and brought the characters of Whinnie the Pooh into being. His process was to sketch and sketch and sketch, to create movement on the page, even at times going over some of the original line work to keep adapting it.

This process reminded me of some of the things I do, to make sure that my work is perfected in some way shape or form.

I think the most impressive part of the exhibition was the set up itself, it had a slide, a dark room with kinetic typography on the ceiling and a voice reading from an extract of one of the stories while it animated; there were all manner of sizes of display typography and illustrations to guide you through the exhibit.

Tiny Bees with the word ‘Buzz’ near them was so simple yet I spotted everyone of them on the walls. I enjoyed the small things such as a big O with the centre hollowed out so that a small child could fit inside, there was a bed to represent story time for Christopher Robin, and even though it was fairly annoying, there was a bell hanging on a small door that opened out and closed.

There was so much interaction, which reflected how the stories are written and composed by A.A Milne’s typesetting – some of the paragraphs were formed in the shape of a tree trunk, others followed the movement of the characters, such as Kanga hoping with Piglet in her pouch. E. Shepherd’s illustrations sometimes featured over one single page, such as when Pooh got stuck in Rabbit’s hole.

It was surprising that so many cultures and other countries around the globe also enjoyed Winnie the Pooh and to learn of the different variations was quite interesting.

I am very much glad I went to this exhibition, not only to feel a connection back to my childhood, but to be inspired by such a humorous writer and an incredible illustrator who’s work had so much movement as if ready to animate itself.

Last year was quite a challenging time. I started my driving lessons, lost my job, spent months and months and months searching for the next opportunity …. oh I also failed my driving test first time…. but lets not get into that bit right now. I also taught my self to crochet! There was an amazing wedding, a house move, a fantastic trip to london and some happy memories made amongst the not so good ones. Finally gaining a position that I enjoy, I have high hopes for 2018.

Knowing many have resolutions to make themselves better people, I have a few goals in mind that are listed below.

1. To pass my driving test no matter how long it takes.

2. To find a lovely little car so I can explore what more England has to offer

3. Continue my crochet and pick up knitting again

4. To properly get back into piano and guitar playing so I can join in with the local jams

It’s strange to think this time last year I was about to start my journey to and from Slough everyday… working just round the corner from home is in my opinion, loads better and my mindset is definitely stronger and happier.

After my depressing post yesterday, I self composed my own design brief, starting in August. Involving my love of reading and story telling and design, this will be an interesting visual experiment.

Book Cover Design Project The Brief:

Book Covers have been around for Centuries, they are part of the reading experience. Similar to album artwork and record sleeves, book covers and jackets are expressive, mysterious and like closed doors to the world inside. Used to draw the reader in, the book cover can either make or break a story’s success.

Your task is to re-imagine at least 5 stories and produce a cover / jacket using either CMYK & White OR a maximum of 3 colours. The way you produce these covers are up to you. The use of photography, collage, illustration, typography and mixed media may help to produce interesting outcomes. The style is up to you.

Starting from the 1st August 2017 you must blog your progress to finally show the final designs through Instagram. Other methods of showing your progress could be through film, photographs and screenshots.

There is a deadline of the 31st August 2017, however if this project runs well, you may consider continuing on the brief further.

Trying to find that perfect design placement, internship or career boost is really difficult. Since my redundancy I have been searching, interviewed and coming so close yet no cigar for months now.

Every piece of feedback has been useful and given me the confidence to keep going. The latest from Something Big, to practice my skills to get faster and better as well as to have more ‘image & text’ based designs in my portfolio. Also to not give up. This was the most valuable and helpful piece of advice I have received so far. It’s made me realise where I can improve.

(The trouble is just getting round to doing it.)

A new venture has also started, it’s just getting on to it’s feet; this venture is called ‘Off The Grid, Design & Marketing’. A group of designers and freelancers available to take on any brief! I have been a part of the branding and naming of the group, which was really enjoyable. It gave me something to do, as well as to collaborate with one of my friends whose been in the industry for 20 + years.

Since my last post I have had so many interviews that my confidence has rocked sky high… however none have been successful; It’s starting to feel like false hope. It’s a tough world out there, but I am still moving forward and trying my best.

Recently I went to Samfest, a local music festival in Tongham. Normally I go with my friends, but this year was different! I went with my aunty, uncle and little cousins!!!
I stayed till the end amongst the crowd and of course the rain. It was good to see some familiar faces one of the bar men and one of the organisers.

The acts were great, my favourite though was The Flying Wright Bros. always a pleasure to see them perform rock and classic rock acts!

I took my poi with me, where I had lots of space to play. Having not spun in a while it was definitely hard work but the people loved it all the same!!! (The bar man knows me for my tankard and poi skills at a different event). A guy with a camera also enjoyed filming my antics, it was a good day out and all for charity too!

I am still trying to come up with some ideas for side projects, so far I have thought about:

> Designing album covers with self generated imagery, picking out random words from a dictionary / online generator / news articles / books etc. for the band name and album name

> Designing tiki style prints

> Designing a Zine about something or rather

(100 days… I have given up because I have creative bloq and can’t seem to think of anything good to make into an animated gif)